Apparatus for tightening knots in a fringe material



Sept-.24, 1968 J. D. BROCK 3,402,445

APPARATUS FOR TIGHTENING KNOTS IN A FRINGE MATERIAL Filed March 16, 1966,FIG 1. '76 1 63 77 14- f 59 INVENTOR JOHN D BROCK Gar 35m wdizzzATTORNEYS United States Patent ABSTRACT OF THE mscLosuRE A machine fortightening knots in a loosely knotted material is provided having spacedgripping devices for holding the material at opposite ends as it isadvanced through the machine. One of the gripping devices is disposed atan oblique angle with respect to the other device so that the spacingbetween the gripping devices gradually increases in the direction oftravel of the material. As the material advances through the machine thelateral tension force applied at the ends of the material increases andcauses the knots to be tightened. A guide plate disposed between thegripping devices causes the knots to be uniformly tightened and spacedfrom the ends.

In making rugs,.resort is often made to the use of tassels or otherfringe-type material for enhancing the appearance of the rug. In myco-pending application Ser. No. 665,943, filed Aug. 14, 1967, which is acontinuationin-partof Ser. No. 517,384, filed Dec. 29, 1965, nowabandoned, there is disclosed a machine for making a rug fringe whichcomprises a woven border having a loose fringe on one side only. Suchrug fringes have found 'wide acceptance as a decorative attachment forrugs, and can be used either as a loose fringe or with the fringeformedinto tassels by tying several strands of the fringe yarn into aknot adjacent the woven border. In either case, the woven border of therug fringe is sewn to the rug to form a decorative attachment.

Where the fringe is formed into tassels, this operation, heretofore, hasbeen done by hand; however, the formation of tassels on the rug fringenormally suffers from many disadvantages particularly due to thedifficulty of obtaining uniformly tight knots which are equally spacedfrom the woven border. As can be appreciated, this requires special careand attention on the part of the workers to prevent a high percentage ofspoilage. Such an operation is slow and costly, and it takes severalworkers to keep up with the output of a single rug fringe machine suchas described in my aforementioned application.

The present invention overcomes these disadvantages and provides a novelapparatus for automatically tightening loosely formed knots of a rugfringe to a uniform tightness while maintaining the knots equally spacedfrom the woven border. The step of forming tassels by tying severalstrands of the fringe into a loose knot may be done by machine ormanually. Where the loose knot is formed manually, a considerable costsaving in the end product is still realized, because it is no longernecessary for the workmen to exercise the special care and precautionsnecessary to try to obtain a uniform tightness and equal spacing of theknots from the woven border, and the loose knots are easily formed withthe workmen being able to work at a considerable increase in speed.

Accordingly, it is a primaryobject of the present inventionito provide anovel knot tightening apparatus for a rug fringe compfising a wovenborder having a fringe on one side only formed with loose knots.

Another object of the present invention is to provide 3,402,445 PatentedSept. 24, 1968 a novel knot tightening apparatus for completing thetassel forming operation on a rug fringe.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a novel'knottightening apparatus which assures uniform tightening of knots and equalspacing of knots from the woven border of a rug fringe.

Although the invention is particularly adapted for-tightening of looseknots formed in a rug fringe made in accordance with the teachings of myaforementioned c'opending application and is described in connectionthere with, in its broader aspects, the invention is also susceptiblefor a variety of other uses such as, for example, to effect lateraltensioning of web or sheet material or spreading of a fabric. Suchapparatus have heretofore required the use of bowed rolls or rotatableshafts having helical threads extending from the center outwardly. Thepresent invention obviates the need of such costly arrangements andprovides a novel apparatus for lateral tensioning of material which issimple and economical in construction, yet highly efiicient inoperation.

Accordingly, a further object of the present invention is to provide anovel tensioning apparatus for effecting lateral stretching ortensioning of web or sheet materials.

To this end, in accordance with the present invention, there areprovided two sets of gripping devices arranged in spaced relationship toedge grip the material as it is advanced. One gripping device set isdisposed parallel to the direction of travel of the advancing materialand the other gripping device set is disposed obliquely with respect tothe direction of travel of the advancing material. In this manner, thespacing between the sets gradually increases from the initial point ofcontact of the gripping devices with the advancing material in thedirection of travel of the advancing material to effect lateraltensioning thereof by the application of a continuous, progressivelyincreasing lateral tensioning force to the material.

In accordance with another feature of the present invention, looselyformed knots in a rug fringe are uniformly tightened and the spacing ofthe knots from the woven border of the rug fringe are maintaineduniform. To this end, a slotted guide plate is disposed between the setsof gripping devices and the loosely knotted rug fringe material isadvanced through the machine so that the fringe material passes throughthe slot of the guide plate with all the knots being positioned on oneside of the plate and the border of the fringe material passing on theother side. As tension is applied through the action of the grippingdevices, the loose knots are drawn tight against the slotted plate whichsets the spacing of the knots from the border.

In accordance with another feature of the invention, means are providedto insure that the loose fringe is extended outwardly for engagement byone of the sets of gripping devices. To this end, the rug fringe isinitially transported perpendicular to the path of travel of the rugfringe past the gripping devices, and the direction of feed of the rugfringe is changed approximately before passage past the grippingdevices. As the direction of feed is changed, the rug fringe issubjected to a forced air flow which causes the rug fringe and the loosestrands extending from .the woven border to be flipped and extendoutwardly.

Although the invention will be described with respect to the specificapplication of tightening loosely formed knots in a rug fringe, it willbe obvious to those skilled in the art that the invention is susceptiblefor use in many other environments. Therefore, although only onespecific form of the invention is illustrated in the accompanyingdrawing, it is to be expressly understood that this drawing is for thepurpose of illustration only and is not intended to represent the fullscope of the invention which is defined by the appended claims.

In the drawing, wherein like reference characters indicate like partsthroughout the several views:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the tensioning apparatus of the presentinvention; and

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the tensioning apparatus of FIG. 1.

Referring to the drawing, reference character generally designates theknot tensioning apparatus of the present invention comprising arectangular frame 11 supported at each corner by plurality of legmembers 12. Frame 11 may be formed in a conventional manner by a pair oflongitudinally extending angle pieces 13 and 14, and laterally extendingangle pieces 15 and 16. A pair of channel member 17 and 18 are fixed atopposite ends to angle pieces 15 and 16. Disposed beneath therectangular frame 11 is another pair of supporting members 19 and 20which may be conveniently secured to cross pieces (not shown) joiningoppositely disposed leg members 12. Additional reinforcing members maybe provided, if desired, to add structural support to the frame.

In accordance with the present invention, two sets of gripping devices21 and 22 are mounted in spaced relationship to the channel members 17and 18 so that each set grips an edge of the advancing material 9 for aportion of its run. Set 22 is disposed parallel to the direction oftravel of the material as it is advanced between the sets 21 and 22, asindicated by the arrows in FIG. 1, and the other set 21 is disposedobliquely or at an angle with respect to the direction of travel of thematerial 9 between the sets.

The spacing between the sets 21 and 22 is predeterminedly set inaccordance with the width of the material so that the initial point ofcontact of the gripping devices with the material, the material isgripped along the edges. Thereafter, the distance or spacing between thegripping devices in a direction of travel of the advancing materialbetween the sets gradually increases. In this manner, there is exerted acontinuous, lateral tensioning or stretching force which isprogressively increased as the material is advanced between the sets ofgripping devices.

Edge gripping of the material on each side is effected in a similarmanner by each edge gripping device 21 and 22 which comprise a roll 23and a cooperating endless belt 24 rotatably mounted about four pulleys25-28, and a roll 29 and a cooperating endless belt 30 rotatably mountedabout four pulleys 31-34, respectively. The structural supportingarrangement for each gripping device set is identical with theexception, as clearly shown in FIG. 1, that set 21 is disposed at anangle with respect to the direction of travel of the advancing materialbetween the sets while the other set 22 is disposed parallel to thedirection of travel of the advancing material between the sets.Accordingly, the structural supporting arrangement for only one set willbe described.

Roll 23 comprises a disc-like roller rotatably mounted on stub shaft 35secured to channel member 17 and is driven by belt 24. Advantageously,the peripheral edge of the roll 23 comprises a resilient surface suchas, for example, rubber, which enhances frictional engagement betweenthe roll and the material. If desired, the surface may be grooved ornotched to further improve frictional contact and prevent lateralslippage.

Pulleys 25-28 are conventional V-belt pulleys adapted to receive theendless V-belt 24. Pulley 25 is keyed to a shaft 36 which is rotatablysupported by pillow-block 37 secured to upstanding member 38. Likewise,pulleys 26, 27 and 28 are keyed to their respective shafts 39, 40 and41, which are rotatably supported by pillow-blocks 42, 43 and 44,respectively. Pillow-block 42 is mounted to channel member 17, whilepillow-blocks 43 and 44 are mounted to Belt 24 is driven 'by a fifthpulley 46 keyed to driving shaft 47, and a similar driving pulley 48 issecured to the other side of shaft 47 for establishing a drivingconnection to belt 30 of edge gripping set 22.

Shaft 47 is rotatably supported in a conventional manner on cross pieces19 and 20 and is arranged to be driven from a frame mounted motor 50through a speed reduction unit 51. To this end, the output shaft 49 ofmotor 50 has affixed thereto a pulley drive comprising a pulley 52 keyedto shaft 49, a pulley 53 keyed to the input shaft 54 of the speedreduction unit 51 and an endless belt 55. The output of the speedreduction unit 51 is conveniently coupled to the driving shaft 47 bymeans of a sprocket chain drive comprising a sprocket 56 keyed to theoutput shaft 57 of the speed reduction unit and drivingly connected tosprocket 58 secured to the drive shaft by means of chain 59.

In operation, motor 50 is energized and the material is fed to theedge-gripping sets 21 and 22 to establish an initial contact with thematerial between the belts 24 and 30 and the rollers 23 and 29. Thematerial is thus gripped at its edges and advanced in the direction ofthe arrows between the sets of gripping devices. Since the distancebetween the sets gradually increases from the initial point of contact,a continuous, progressively increasing lateral tension force is appliedto the material. This lateral tension force is applied so long as thematerial is in contact with the sets of gripping devices, and pressureis maintained on the edges of the material between the rollers and thebelts for a distance which is slightly greater than a quarter of thecircumference of the roll.

After the material leaves the final point of contact between the rollers23 and 29 and the belts 24 and 30, the material is withdrawn from themachine by passing it over a feed roller 60 from where it may be storedin any desirable manner. Feed roller 60 is secured to shaft 61 which isrotatably supported by pillow-blocks 62 and 63 carried by frame members64 and 65 secured to the frame 11. For driving the feed roller 60, thereis keyed to shaft 61 a pulley 66 which is driven through endless belt 67and driving pulley 68 afiixed to the driving shaft 47.

As herebefore described, the invention is particularly adapted fortightening up loose knots in a rug fringe made in accordance with theapparatus described in my co-pending application Ser. No. 517,384. Tothis end a slotted guide member is disposed between the sets of grippingdevices 21 and 22, which comprises an upper guide plate 70 and a lowerguide plate 71 having an arcuate slot or channel 72 formed therebetween.Guide plate 70 is supported to the frame 11 by bracket 73, while guidemember 71 is supported to the forward portion of the frame 11 by bracket74. Guide plates 70 and 71 are supported in the same plane and in spacedrelationship so that their adjacent edges are spaced and shaped toprovide an arcuate channel 72 which corresponds to the curvature of therolls.

The rug fringe 9 is advanced through the machine so that the fringematerial passes through the channel 72 formed by the guide plates 70 and71, with the knots being disposed on one side and the border beingdisposed on the other side. In operation, as the lateral tension forceis applied to the rug fringe as it is advanced between the sets ofgripping devices, the loose knots are drawn tight against the guidemember, which provides a uniform spacing of all knots from the rugfringe border. The spacing of the guide plates 70 and 71 is set so as toprevent the tightened knot from passing therethrough, and it should beapparent that the size of the channel can be varied as desired accordingto the thickness of the material and the size of the knot.

To insure that all strands of the loose fringe of the material extendoutwardly for engagement by edgegripping device 21, the rug fringe isinitially transported perpendicular to the path of travel of the rugfringe past the sets of gripping devices through a U-shaped guide 75supported transversely of frame members 17 and 18.

The rug fringe is fed into the machine with the woven border travelingadjacent the biglrt of the U and the direction of feed of the rug fringeis changed approximately 90 after traveling the limit of the guide 75.As the direction of feed of the rug fringe is changed, means areprovided for subjecting the rug fringe to a forced air flow which causesthe rug fringe tobe flipped 180 so that the loose strands extending fromthe woven border all extend outwardly and are engaged by edgeagrippingdevice 21. Such an air flow may be provided by a blower 76 supported bygusset 77 secured to angle piece 14. Blower 76 may include a nozzle 78positioned close to the point of the direction of feed. Advantageously,the exit end of guide 75 may be cut on a bias, as at 79, to facilitateturnover of the material and a sloping feed member 80 is supportedbetween the channel members 17 and 18 to provide a slide for thematerial by which it is advanced into engagement with the grippingdevices and also to prevent the strands of the rug fringe from hangingloosely after they are flipped by the air blast.

There has thus been described a simple, yet highly efficient, machinefor effecting the application of a lateral tension force transverse tothe direction of feed of the material. While the invention has beendescribed with particularity with respect to tightening of loose knotsformed in a rug fringe, it will be obvious to those skilled in the artthat the inventive concept is susceptible of a variety of applicationsand that various modifications may be made without departing from theinventive concept. It is therefore intended by the appended claims tocover all such modifications which come within the true spirit and scopeof the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for lateral tensioning of a material having a plurality ofloosely formed knots comprising a first and a second set of grippingdevices, means for advancing the material between said first and saidsecond sets of gripping devices, means supporting said first grippingdevice set for edge gripping the material on one end of the materialadjacent one side of the knots, means supporting said second grippingdevice set for edge gripping the material on the other end of thematerial adjacent the other side of the knots, and said first and saidsecond sets of gripping devices being disposed in spaced relationshipsuch that the distance between said first and said second sets ofgripping devices from the initial point of contact of said sets ofgripping devices with the advancing material gradually increases in thedirection of travel of the advancing material to effect lateraltensioning thereof and tightening of the knots as the material isadvanced and guide means disposed be tween said sets of gripping devicesfor spacing the tightened knots from the ends of the material.

2. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said guide means disposedbetween said sets of gripping devices includes a channel extending inthe direction of travel of the material through the machine and adaptedto receive the material with the knots on one side so as to cause theknots to be uniformly tightened and spaced from the end of the materialas it is advanced through the machine.

3. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein each of said sets ofgripping devices comprises a roll and an endless belt rotatably mountedand disposed such that said endless belt presses the material againstthe surface of said roll to grip the material between said endless beltand said surface of the roll as the material is ad vanced to effectlateral tensioning thereof.

4. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein each of said sets ofgripping devices comprises a roll, a plurality of rotatably mountedpulleys and an endless belt passing around and received by said pulleysand disposed such that said endless belt presses the material againstthe surface of said roll to grip the material between said endless beltand said surface of the roll as the mater'ial is advanced to elfectlateral tensioning thereof and said means for advancing the materialincludes a drive ing a woven border and a fringe on one side formed withloosely tied knots comprising means for advancing the rug fringe, firstgriping means disposed in the path of the advancing rug fringe forgripping: the border, second gripping means disposed in the path of theadvancing rug fringe for gripping the fringe, said first and said secondgripping means being disposed in spaced relationship such that thedistance between said first and said second gripping means from theinitial point of cont-act of said first and said second gripping meanswith the border and fringe gradually increases in the direction of feedof the rug fringe to effect tightening of the loosely formed knots asthe rug fringe is advanced and guide means supported between said firstand said second. gripping means for setting the spacing of the tightenedknots from the border of the rug fringe material.

6. Apparatus for tightening knots as set forth in claim 5 wherein one ofsaid gripping means is disposed parallel to the direction of travel ofthe advancing rug fringe between said first and said second grippingmeans and the other of said gripping means is disposed obliquely withrespect to the direction of travel of the advancing rug fringe betweensaid first and said second gripping means.

7. Apparatus for tightening knots as set forth in claim 5 wherein eachof said gripping means comprises a roll and an endless belt rotatablymounted and disposed such that one of the endless belts presses theborder against the surface of a corresponding roll to grip the borderbetween said endless belt and said surface of the roll and the other ofthe endless belts presses the fringe against the surface of itscorresponding roll to grip the fringe between said last named endlessbelt and surface of the roll to eifect tightening of the knots as therug fringe is advanced.

8. Apparatus for tightening knots as set forth in claim 5 wherein saidguide means for setting the spacing of the tightened knots from theborder of the rug fringe comprises a plate member having a slotextending in the direction of travel of the rug fringe between saidfirst and said second gripping means and adapted to receive the rugfringe as it is advanced with the loosely formed knots positioned on oneside thereof.

9. Apparatus for tightening knots as set forth in claim 8 wherein thesize of said slot is such as to prevent a tightened knot from passingtherethrough.

10. Apparatus for tightening knots as set forth in claim 5 furtherincluding means disposed adjacent the path of travel of the advancingrug fringe and ahead of said first and said second gripping means forcausing the fringe of the rug fringe to be extended outwardly forgripping engagement by said second gripping means.

11. Apparatus for tightening knots as set forth in claim 10 wherein saidmeans for causing the fringe of the rug fringe to be extended outwardlycomprises a forced air flow directed toward the advancing rug fringe.

12. Apparatus for tightening knots as set forth in claim 10 furtherincluding means disposed in the path of travel of the advancing rugfringe for causing the direction of travel of the rug fringe to bechanged prior to passage through said first and said second grippingmeans, and said means for causing the fringe to be extended outwardly isdisposed adjacent the path of travel of the advancing rug fringe at thepoint where the direction of travel of the rug fringe is changed.

13. Apparatus for tightening knots as set forth in claim 12 wherein saidmeans for causing the fringe to be extended outwardly comprises a forcedair flow directed toward the advancing rug fringe.

14. Apparatus for tightening knots as set forth in claim 12 wherein saidmeans for causing the direction of travel of the rug fringe to bechanged includes a channel member adapted to receive the border, saidchannel being disposed substantially perpendicular to the direction oftravel ofrthe rug fringe between said first and said second grippingmeans whereby the direction of travel of the vrug fringe is changedapproximately 90 15. Apparatus for tightening knots as set forth inclaim --14 wherein said means for causing the fringe to be extendedoutwardly comprises a forced air flow directed toward the'rugv fringe atthe point where the direction of travel of the rug fringe ischanged forcausing the rug 504,316 9/1893 Arnold 1,997,483 4/1935 Cluett 2,702,4062/1955 Race LOUIS K. RIMRODTfP'rimary Examiner.

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE PATENT OFFICE Washington, D.C. 20231 UNITEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3,402,445September 24, 1968 John D. Brock It is certified that error appears inthe above identified patent and that said Letters Patent are herebycorrected as shown below:

Column 3, line 16, "member" should read members line 73, after "mountedto" insert an upstanding plate 45 secured to channel member 17.

Signed and sealed this 3rd day of February 1970.

(SEAL) Attest:

Edward M. Fletcher, Jr.

Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents WILLIAM E. SCHUYLER, JR.

